Award Winners' PR Toolkit 2021/22 - Business Support Guides Helping tourism businesses make the most of winning an award - Cornwall Tourism Awards
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©VisitBritain/Gary Summers Business Support Guides Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22 Helping tourism businesses make the most of winning an award
1 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Introduction
Congratulations on winning an award. As well as recognising your quality
product, this win represents an urgent PR opportunity.
Media coverage won’t magically ensue: you’ll have to be proactive and tell the right journalists why
they should cover your business.
Produced for those who are time-poor and not marketing professionals, this PR Toolkit advises you
on how to secure and maximise the media coverage around your award win. It is split into four main
sections covering who to contact, what exactly to say, how best to say it and when to say it. You
can also read case studies from previous winners who have scored media coverage on the back of
winning an award. The final section focuses on the world of ‘influencers’.
Good luck in making the most of your fantastic award win!
“To me, the best PR pitches
are the ones which ‘get’ the
publication and the readership,
sum up the idea in a snappy
subject header and then expand
– briefly! – on the idea in a
subsequent paragraph. They’ll
explain why it’s newsy, and why it
is a great fit for Metro.”
- Laura Millar,
Travel Editor of Metro
©VisitBritain/Gary Summers
2 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Who?
Here is an overview of the UK’s many media outlets which produce travel content:
Type Examples Audience Best contact
National Deputy Travel Editor
The Times, The Readers with money to spend,
broadsheet (if one) or Travel
Guardian, Daily Mail generally 30+
newspaper Editor
National theguardian.com/ Readers with money to spend,
broadsheet travel, telegraph. usually more millennial than Digital Travel Editor
website co.uk/travel the print version
National A wide readership and price Travel Editor NB: The
The Sun, The Daily
tabloid range, with luxury less likely to Express, Mirror and
Mirror
newspaper feature Star share editors
Regional
Evening Standard, A wide readership and price Travel or Features
newspaper
Liverpool Daily Post range Editor
(see below)
Regional Cornwall Life,
Features or News
magazine Midlands Living, Visiting tourists, local residents
Editor
(see below) Round & About
Wanderlust,
Travel Regular, affluent or niche Features Editor or
Suitcase, Condé Nast
magazine (e.g. adventure) travellers Editorial Assistant
Traveller, Coast
Psychologies,
Lifestyle Prima, Sainsbury’s A wide range aged 30+, foodies, Travel (if one) or
magazine Magazine, Absolutely mothers, etc Features Editor
Mama
Other niche- Horse & Rider, Hobbyists or devotees of a
Features (if one) or
sector Cyclist, Breathe, The specific activity, art, science or
News Editor
magazine World of Interiors practice
Travel-trade Travel Trade Gazette, Travel agents (including shops
Deputy News Editor
magazine Travel Weekly and online)
Adventure.com,
Avid travellers or niche Features Editor
Travel website Mummy Travels,
travellers (if one) or Editor
LoveExploring
Lifestyle Stylist.co.uk, A wide readership, typically Travel (if one) or
website MarieClaire.co.uk more millennial Features Editor
3 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Type Examples Audience Best contact
National radio Traveller’s Tree (BBC Affluent, mostly 50+, plus
Series Producer
show Radio 4) aged 35-54
Regional radio Island FM, Radio Affluent, mostly 50+ local
News team
station Borders, Lincs FM residents
The Carry On, Footnotes Travel fanatics of all ages, Usually the
Travel podcast
(Cicerone) sometimes niche podcasters
BBC World Service’s The Travel fanatics, usually 50+
Travel TV show Series Producer
Travel Show and affluent
BBC London, BBC East Local residents, usually aged
Local TV channel News Editor
Midlands 40+
Regional newspapers
As this is such a practical target area for award-winners, we’ve listed the main regional newspaper
publishers – although please be aware that this isn’t an exhaustive list, and some of your biggest
local papers may be published by other companies:
Media Group Examples of Titles Website
Manchester Evening News, Liverpool
Reach (formerly
Echo, Daily Post (Wales), Birmingham reachplc.com/our-newsbrands
Trinity Mirror)
Mail
Dorset Echo, In Cumbria, The Argus,
Newsquest newsquest.co.uk/news-brands
Oxford Mail
JPI Media
(formerly Johnston Lancashire Evening Post, Sunderland
jpimedia.co.uk/newsbrands
Press); owned by Echo, The (Sheffield) Star
National World
Eastern Daily Press, Ham & High, North
Archant archant.co.uk/news-brands
Devon Gazette
Midland News Express & Star, Shropshire Star,
mnamedia.co.uk/news-titles
Association (MNA) Shrewsbury Chronicle
Tindle Cornish Times, Surrey & Hants News,
tindlenews.co.uk/brands
Newspapers Island FM radio station
4 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Regional magazines
Media Group Examples of Titles Website
The Life (e.g. Cornwall Life) and
Archant archant.co.uk/magazines
Resident (e.g. Suffolk Resident) titles
The Living (e.g. Hampshire Living) and living-magazines.co.uk
Newsquest
retirement-lifestyle Prime series prime-magazine.co.uk
Midland News Select Magazine, Shropshire Magazine,
mnamedia.co.uk/magazine-titles
Association (MNA) Gourmet Shropshire
Pride Magazines, Lincolnshire pridemagazines.co.uk
Engine House Media, Cornwall enginehousemedia.co.uk
Other smaller/
Loop, Yorkshire & Lancashire looppublishing.co.uk
independent
RMC Media, Yorkshire rmcmedia.co.uk
publishers (print)
Dalesman, Yorkshire dalesman.co.uk
Round & About, southern England roundandabout.co.uk
Other regional
lifestyle Index Digital, SE England indexdigital.co.uk
magazines Viva, Manchester vivamanchester.co.uk
(online)
Find as many local magazines as you can and trawl the staff page to see who publishes it, and their
contact details.
5 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Choosing targets
That’s a lot of options, right? Don’t be overwhelmed; the important thing here is
to select key targets.
Which newspapers, magazines, podcasts, etc.
might your typical customer – or the customer Top Tips: Tracking down
segment you want to reach – be likeliest to
follow? Those are the ones you should target.
contacts
Rather than trying a vague catch-all tack, make
1. Google the name of an outlet plus the
personalised approaches to five or ten relevant,
relevant job title – i.e. [“The Times” +
viable outlets. This is likelier to succeed, and will
“Travel Editor”]. Twitter, LinkedIn and
take you less time.
Instagram can then help you check
whether the info is up to date
Bear in mind that national newspapers and
2. Read or listen to the travel section/
lifestyle magazines will be the fussiest (and
magazine/show/etc, and see what
most besieged!), so you’ll need something truly
names come up
compelling and unusual to interest them. But
3. To get an email address, phone
we’ll discuss this later, in the What? section.
the outlet’s switchboard and ask
nicely. Note that you may simply be
connected, so have your idea ready to
Useful links: pitch orally (see the What? section)
• newsworks.org.uk lists the latest 4. Are there travel writers who regularly
circulation figures of national cover stories about your specialism
newspapers, plus details of their (e.g. a family-travel specialist)? If so,
readership try them. They’ll likely be a freelancer
• abc.org.uk does the same, also whose website lists their email
covering many magazines and address
websites 5. Your local Destination Organisation
• media.info/radio has useful radio- (DO) may have regional contacts. Their
station statistics, including local details can be found at visitbritain.
stations org/business-advice/find-local-
• visitbritain.org/visitor-segmentation support
has an overview of the main domestic
tourism consumer segments as
defined by VisitEngland
6 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Case Study #1
Jacqui Gooding, owner, Letheringham Water Mill Cottages
Size of company: Six part-time staff
letheringhammill.co.uk
What we did: After we won the Dog-Friendly
Business Award, our freelance PR first
concentrated on local press, including TV &
radio – emailing out releases and following
up contacts she knew well by phone – and we
featured in nine titles. She then reached out
nationally, securing articles in The Sunday
Telegraph and The Daily Mirror. My highlight
was being included in Hello! Magazine’s ‘10 of
the best tourism destinations in England’.
The tactics: Initially the award win was
our main story, but we still mention it on
each press release – using the hashtag
#DogFriendlyBusiness2017, tagging
VisitEngland on all social media and always
referring to ourselves as ‘award-winning’. Much
of our coverage focuses on our dog-friendliness,
so having the award to back us up is extremely
useful.
©www.fosseyimages.com
The effect: : I firmly believe that without our
award, Letheringham Mill would not have
had the same PR success. Locally, we’re still
regarded as ‘one to watch’ and nationally we are
now taken seriously: titles such as Coast took an
interest following the award, and now feature us
quite often. We also received support from pet
bloggers whose reach is powerful, and whose
very-relevant content has a long shelf life.
Top tip: I think professional photography is a
MUST. We regularly work with photographer
Suzanne Fossey, and having fabulous high-
resolution images ready to send makes a
tremendous difference to our promotion.
©www.fosseyimages.com
7 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22 What? Knowing your story “What’s the hook?” is a common question travel editors ask when they’re offered a story. A hook (AKA ‘peg’ or ‘angle’) is what makes a story idea newsworthy and noteworthy. As an illustration, consider Las Vegas. If a big casino-hotel opens on the Strip it will be newsworthy by dint of being new. But it won’t be very noteworthy: there are already tens of places just like it. Equally, if there was a women’s-only casino-hotel which had been open for 34 years, that would be noteworthy (by being unique) but not newsworthy, as it wouldn’t be new. But if a new, women’s-only casino-hotel opens? Now that would be a hook. Your award win is your hook. It has just happened and it offers a unique, independent validation of your offerings. It is newsworthy and noteworthy. To boost your noteworthiness, consider what else is unique about your product? That’s what a Travel Editor or Series Producer wants to know. What are you doing differently to competitors, and why? Distil these unique selling points (USPs) into a few lines, and include them in your approaches to editors alongside news of the award win. This gives you the best chance of earning precious coverage. Now you know what to say, the How? section (starting on page 11) will tell you how to say it…
8 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Local or national?
Local press – newspapers, magazines, radio stations – are the likeliest to give
you publicity. They’ll be most excited about your award, simply because a local
business winning awards is big news.
That publicity may simply be a short news
story, or an in-depth feature or report. Again, Useful links:
specifying your USPs will boost your chances.
“[Company name] wins award” isn’t as good • innovateuk.blog.gov.uk/2016/10/12/
as “[Company name] wins award thanks to define-your-usp has digestible,
tempting new [product name]”. general tips on ascertaining your USPs
National coverage is usually more desirable. • wanderlust.co.uk/content/5-tips-for-
The reader numbers will be bigger, and you’ll pitching-your-article-to-magazines
be reaching potential clients from further afield – advice from Lyn Hughes, the Travel
who are less likely to know about you. Editor of Wanderlust magazine
Bear in mind, however, that almost every • guide.saferoutesinfo.org/media/
award winner will be contacting national travel identify_hook.cfm is a deep-dive in
editors – alongside numerous other people with what makes a hook
numerous other stories. Getting noticed is hard.
Your best chance? Work out your USPs, as
above, and then follow our How? section.
©Matthew Heritage
9 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
What can you offer?
Some editors or producers may request to send themselves or a reporter to
sample your wares, promising a big story or feature. Typically they’ll expect
this to be provided for free in exchange for the publicity.
Can you afford this? If so, then it will probably be
worthwhile – the bigger the coverage, the better Top Tips: Supporting materials
the impact. You’ll never be given a promise
of when coverage will come out, but you can
1. Good photographs give you a far
request specifics regarding the story’s length or
greater chance of publicity. Check our
(if radio/TV) duration.
resource visitbritainimages.com for
supporting images that you can use
If you can’t afford this, it’s totally okay to say as
2. They should be high-resolution –
much. Just confess that you’re a small business
anything over 300dpi
and that, as much as you’d love to, you can’t
3. But you don’t want to clog an editor’s
provide complimentary stays or experiences at
inbox with lots of large files! So paste
present.
one or two images amid your pitch
(see the How? section) and then,
Ideally, be clear in your initial pitch – at the end,
ideally, paste a link to an online file-
briefly – about what you can or can’t offer.
share folder (e.g. Dropbox) where you
have saved the remainder
4. A photo of you clutching your trophy
or certificate will help your chances for
local media thinking of a news story
5. Also helpful are detailed PDFs about
your product – perhaps ones usually
sent to customers. Attach these (or
stick them in the file-share folder) if
relevant
“You’d be surprised how many PR pitches are commissioned on
the basis of an excellent image, which can convey the essence of a
story perfectly. Conversely, many great ideas are ditched because
of a lack of good imagery.”
- Jane Knight
freelance writer and former Travel Editor of The Times10 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Case Study #2
Lyn and Jason Martin, owners, Dorset House
Size of company: 2 full, 2 part-time cleaners din
g
s
ed
dorsethouselyme.com ©WildW
What we did: Using the award as an excuse to The effect: Every local newspaper ran coverage,
talk about our USPs, we drafted a press release which was great for local goodwill. The
and sent it, mainly via email, to ‘warm contacts’. Telegraph then picked up the story and reviewed
We then targeted regional press with a ‘good us – and have continued to include us in online
local news story’ angle, and contacted national Top 30s ever since – and the Sunday Times also
travel and food writers, inviting their journalists used us for their next Lyme Regis piece. Several
for a stay at our B&B. trade publications (such as Boutique Hotelier
magazine) have also run stories that have been
The tactics: As Dorset House doesn’t have great for bookings: fellow hospitality-business
external PR support, we focused on core owners tend to take their time off during
publications where our target guests would see midweek in low season, making them dream
the story, rather than scattergun coverage. We customers!
also used social media to thank our suppliers,
encouraging them to ‘share the pride’, and the Top tip: Make the story bigger than just yourself
story, with their network – which was widely – by including our suppliers in the glory, we
successful. magnified the story’s reach far beyond our own
network.
©Matthew Heritage11 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
How?
Approaches can either be made by phone or email. Email is best: phone calls risk
catching harried editors or producers at inconvenient times.
5 ways to write engagingly... ... and 5 other press-release tips
The best writing is chatty, succinct and to-the- 6. Some bold text or italics can look good - but
point. You aren’t here to be lyrical – that’s the too much risks making an email
journalist’s job – but you do need to quickly appear messy
capture attention. These tools help: 7. Put your contact details and succinct
company details at the end, perhaps under
1. Have a strong, concise subject line – e.g. ‘Notes for Editor’, so it’s easy for an editor to
“Cornwall’s only owl sanctuary scores glean more, or to follow up
national award”, or “New for 2021: 8. Provide starting prices (or rack rates for a
Sherwood Forest visitor centre earns room) in the Notes to Editor section and
national recognition” – and don’t try to be briefly state what these include
clever, nor use puns 9. Your email can either just contain a press
2. Use questions in paragraphs. Why do so? release, begin with a personal note above
Because it entices the reader to read on... the release, or disguise the release amid
3. No preamble: mention your hook in the first a personal email. The latter two tacks are
line. An editor may just skim-read this line better, as they demonstrate more effort on
before making a decision your part. Whatever you do, never attach the
4. Keep paragraphs and emails short: long press release; attachments are tedious for
tracts of text seem daunting to time-pressed time-strapped editors to open
readers (as above, some good photographs 10. The ideal length is about an A4 side, or 300-
help here, too) 400 words. Any more constitutes waffle.
5. Use alliteration (successive words beginning
with the same sounds) – such as (and
because) “it puts pace in sentences, making
them fleet, fluid and fetching”.12 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Q&A
Images and award logos
VisitEngland & VisitBritain marketing
Q: What makes a good image? opportunities
A: Images should be over 300dpi and
The VisitEngland and VisitBritain (VE/VB) PR
clear. They should be weather-appropriate
teams work with domestic and international
(i.e. sunny for a beach). Above all, they
media and influencers to tell England and
should be appealing.
Britain’s stories through a programme of activity
that includes media/influencer trips, media
Q: How do I choose the best?
relations, events and content creation aligned to
A: Trust your instinct. Put two or three current target audiences and campaigns. This is
distinctive snaps in the email or press supported by a digital Media Centre (visitbritain.
release, then make clear that more are com/gb/en/media).
available in an online file-share folder.
VE/VB’s teams will review all national award-
Q: What about logos? winners to see which marketing and PR
opportunities are relevant. In the future, if you
A: The relevant competition logo (e.g. have any noteworthy news which you think may
VisitEngland Awards for Excellence) adds be of interest to a domestic or international
authenticity to your release, but if used it media audience, please share it with press@
should be small: editors are interested in visitengland.org and pressandpr@visitbritain.
your story, not in a logo. The same applies org for consideration for possible wider publicity
to your company logo. and integration across social and website
content.
Q: Should I hire a photographer?
A: This could be a terrific investment. To You should also monitor VE/VB’s integrated,
save money, consider hiring a student nationwide campaigns such as the Escape the
photographer. Everyday campaign to see if they align with your
product and can potentially integrate into your
Q: How do I request photo credits? own activity. Check visitbritain.org/campaigns-
opportunities for the latest toolkit.
A: If these are strictly necessary, make
clear in parentheses after your online Consider, too, signing up to our fortnightly
file-share folder link, and put ‘Must industry newsletter (visitbritain.org/newsletter_
credit: “XX”’ in each image’s filename, signup) for the latest news about international
replacing ‘XX’ with the photographer’s market intelligence, partnership marketing
name. For more guidance, see visitbritain. opportunities or tourism events.
org/business-advice/tv-and-copyright-
licences. On the ‘I Love Great Britain Community’
Facebook group (facebook.com/groups/
LoveGBCommunity), global tourists share
tips about UK places to see, stay or eat.
Join the group and you can share your local
recommendations.13 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Useful links:
• theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jul/14/how-to-write-press-release
outlines many more digestible release-writing tips
• help.dropbox.com/guide/individual/how-to-use-dropbox
• pexels.com, pixabay.com and unsplash.com contain free-to-use images. Ditto images.
google.com – having made a search, specify ‘Creative Commons licenses’ under Tools and
Usage Rights.
• visitbritain.org/business-advice/market-your-business provides resources and guidance
to market your business
©VisitBritain/Gary Summers
©VisitBritain/Gary Summers14 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Below is a proforma press release or email for the time-poor. The square-bracketed sections require
your input. We suggest that you write your own release, though, if possible, in order to stand out.
Whether you use your own logo, VisitEngland’s award logo, both or neither (see p16) is up to you.
[Insert your geographic region]’s leading
[insert business type] triumphs at Your Logo
national VisitEngland awards
The [only/premier (delete as appropriate)] [insert business type] provider in [insert area], [insert
business name] won the [insert award category] category at the prestigious VisitEngland Awards for
Excellence 2022 awards presentation which celebrated excellence across the industry.
[Insert job title of award collector(s) in photograph] [insert award collector’s name] collected the
award from [insert award presenter] during a ceremony at [insert venue] on [insert date].
[Write a brief summary of your business, expanding on your USPs and range of offerings. No more
than three sentences and four lines]
PASTE 2-3 HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES
“[Write a short, 1-2-sentence quote covering how long you’ve been in business, and mentioning
any other recent awards – and any other USPs you didn’t get in above. Finish with a short sentence
about how delighted you are to win],” commented [insert job title] [insert name]
[Write a starting or sample price for your experience, rooms or other service, and state what that
includes. Finish with your booking telephone number and website]
ENDS
[insert date of release]
Notes to editor:
• More images, including those taken at the award ceremony, are available at [insert file-share
folder link]
• Please contact me on [insert phone or mobile] or [insert email] for further information
• Complimentary press-review experiences [are/aren’t (delete as appropriate)] possible depending
on the ensuing coverage
• For more information about VisitEngland or the Awards for Excellence, please contact
Charlotte Sanders, Senior Press Officer, on 020 7578 1428 or charlotte.sanders@visitengland.
org
• More information about the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence can be found at
visitenglandawards.org15 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Social media Example posts:
Using social-media channels is a great way We are so proud to be chosen as one of [region’s
to raise awareness of your award’s success. name] top tourism businesses [local awards
Channels such as Facebook, Twitter and hashtag]. Can’t wait to find out if we’ve won
Instagram can be powerful tools for reaching [category name] on [date of local ceremony]
and engaging with customers. [local awards handle]
Top tips on how to use social media to publicise Delighted to be chosen as one of England’s top
your win: tourism businesses #VEAwards2022. Can’t wait
1. Follow your local awards’ competition to find out if we’ve won [category name]
organiser on social media @VisitEnglandBiz
2. Repost anything that mentions your
business, destination or category Wow – we’re national finalists #VEAwards2022!
3. Use the appropriate # and Twitter handles Can’t wait to see if we win [category name]. We’ll
in all of your posts for both the local and keep you posted @VisitEnglandBiz
national competitions (for the VisitEngland
Awards for Excellence 2021/2022, these are We are chuffed to have won [gold/silver/
#VEAwards2022 and @VisitEnglandBiz) bronze] in the [category name] category
4. Announce being named a winner in real-time #VEAwards2022. Well done to all of the other
5. Congratulate other winners, including finalists [handles of other category finalists]
competitors in your category
6. Use images in subsequent posts with your Congratulations to all our staff and thank you
awards logo to all our customers who helped us win [gold/
7. Post images of your trophy/certificate silver/bronze] in the [category name] category
8. Keep your tone upbeat and positive #VEAwards2022!
For further guidance, read the social-media We are proud to announce that we have won
section in VisitEngland’s Digital Marketing [gold/silver/bronze] in the [category name]
Toolkit at visitengland.org/onlinemarketing #VEAwards2022! It couldn’t have gone to a more
hard-working team!
(plus a photo of the team smiling/cheering with
trophy or certificate once received)16 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Awards Logo
Make sure that VisitEngland or your local competition organiser send
you the correct logo for your win as soon as possible. This year’s win
is unique to you, so you should be making the most of it!
Top tips on how to use an awards logo:
1. Display it prominently at your business – consider putting it on a sign to gain maximum
exposure. (You may also receive either a certificate and/or a trophy – display those in a
prominent location too)
2. Put it in a prominent position on your website – ideally in the header or footer so that
it appears on every page. (If your website includes multiple locations/properties, then
the awards logo must only be displayed on the page/s that relate to the specific award
winning location/property.)
3. Add it to your email signature
4. Use it on any printed materials – leaflets, brochures, headed paper, adverts, posters, etc.
5. Use it in social-media posts
6. Do not modify the competition’s logo in any way. Use the version which will give the best
contrast from its background, rather than placing the logo over images or colours that
could make it illegible.
7. Embed a hyperlink into any digital versions of the logo, linking to a press release or the
official winners’ list
8. If you are lucky enough to have received a number of awards over the years, avoid the
temptation to display every single logo. As a rule of thumb, display the most significant
Do use the version of the logo Do not stretch or alter the logo Do not angle the logo in any way.
that will give the best contrast
from the background.
Do not alter the logo’s colours. Do not place the logo on
images or colours that will
make it illegible.17 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Case Study #3
Tom Pearcy, director, York Maze
Size of company: 8 staff
yorkmaze.com
What we did: As usual, the awards were well The effect: We had various stories about us
covered by regional media, including the all- broadcast on regional TV channels, and others
important TV, so winning one gave us great published in regional and local print and on
exposure without having to chase it. We shared digital media.
all the publicity through our social-media
channels, and then used the award as leverage Top tip: Don’t be shy when it comes to shouting
to create further publicity. about your success, and always try and get
yourself in the middle of any photo ops at the
The tactics: We used the tagline ‘award winning awards!
York maze’ in all our communications, as well
as in advertising. All coverage gained was then
shared on social media once again. I’ve always
found that tourism success makes for a great
‘good news’ story that local media are keen to
use, so this award served as a real opportunity.18 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
When?
When to make your approach
There is no exact science to this, only common
sense. Just avoid Monday mornings – editors
arrive to lots of emails – and that dead time
known as Friday afternoon.
Although anything in-between is fine, Tuesday
mid-morning might be the best time of all: most
inboxes will be calm, and no-one yet has the
sense of the week’s time running out.
Most weekly travel sections produce their
content about a week ahead, and often plan a
month or two ahead. The same applies to radio
shows and TV channels. So time-sensitive ideas
based around an anniversary, film release or
seasonality – i.e. outdoor pursuits – should be
sent 3-6 months in advance of the relevant time
for the best odds of success.
Monthly magazines’ travel sections are written
3-6 months ahead of publication, with issues
also coming out a few days ahead of their stated
month (e.g a September issue published on 29
August). So allow for even more advance notice
if contacting a monthly magazine.
©VisitBritain/Gary Summers
“Ease is key. I need approaches to have all the information I
require (dates, prices, links, images) and to leave enough time for
me to research the story, pitch it and wait for editors’ response.
Frustratingly, I often receive invitations or releases relating to
events happening in just a couple of weeks. Ideally, these should
be coming 3-4 months in advance.”
- Lizzie Pook
freelance travel writer19 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
The art of chasing
©VisitBritain/Gary Summers
Sent a personal pitch to an editor or producer? Wait a week before chasing, unless you’ve
You’re perfectly entitled to follow it up should reason for extra haste. Chase by email (never
no response be received. You can couch this by phone) with courtesy and not even a whiff of
citing a desire to make sure they received the an accusatory tone. Reply to your initial email,
email, or just be honest: say that you want to and say something breezy like “I know you get
give them first dibs, but will – quite reasonably 75,633 emails a day, but your readership fits
– otherwise take the idea elsewhere. our product so darn well that I’m following up to
maximise my chances. Here’s my idea again...”
Whether to follow up an impersonal press
release is more questionable. As before, it might You can also monitor if your release has been
well be that the editor has seen your release, used online by using a tool such as Google
not been smitten and deleted it; but you have Alerts.
less right to a reply if it wasn’t sent personally.
Chase, and you risk only causing long-term
annoyance. But that is more concerning for a PR
professional: if such media contact is rare for
you, then it’s probably worth the risk.
Useful links:
• thefreelancersyear.com/blog/following-up-editors-guide is intended for fellow freelance
journalists, but equally useful from a PR perspective20 Award Winners’ PR Toolkit 2021/22
Working with influencers
Another potential way to leverage your award Unlike journalists, reporters, editors or
win via social media is by building a relationship producers, influencers aren’t employed by a
with a local or national Instagrammer, vlogger or salary-providing company. So most require
other influencer. But how to go about this? payment for their work.
The first trick is to identify the right person. It’s easy to feel aghast at this: “they want a
Follower numbers are important – anything freebie AND payment?” But it makes appreciable
over 5,000 on Instagram is good, for example sense when seen from their side. Before making
– but equally so is the right sort of content an approach, have an idea of what you can pay
and engagement, and also the right platform for the content you expect, bearing in mind its
for your product and target clientele. If you’ve expected worth.
carefully chosen an influencer that you reckon
is a good fit for your brand, chances are they’ll If you can’t host an influencer for free, consider
think the same. organising a tempting event – perhaps a sample
of your product – and inviting one or some to
Be clear, courteous and professional: despite that. That may lure them out to produce some
the common perception, the best bloggers initial content, which in turn will help you to
aren’t blaggers, and nor are Instagrammers measure their impact.
or vloggers. They are proud and professional.
Given that, and given that you don’t want For more guidance on working with influencers,
disappointment down the line, it pays to be see VisitEngland’s Digital Marketing Toolkit at
open about your content expectations from the visitengland.org/onlinemarketing.
start.
©VisitBritain/Gary SummersYou can also read
